Charlie Brown
Ethan Berg Nursing 332 CSU San Marcos
Charlie Brown Charles “Charlie” Brown is an eight-year-old Caucasian school aged boy with short brown hair. He wears a yellow collared shirt with zigzags on it, black shorts, yellow socks, and brown shoes every day. He lives in a traditional nuclear family. His Mom is a housewife, and his Dad is a barber. Charlie Brown’s parenting style fosters increased independence for Charlie Brown, but maintains good parental control. He has one younger sister named Sally and a dog named Snoopy. Charlie’s sister Sally admires her big brother and enjoys spending time with him and his friends. Charlie Brown attends public school most of the day. When he is not at school he plays sports with his friends such as baseball, hockey and football with Lucy. When Charlie Brown needs advice he seeks his best friend Linus or Lucy.
Charlie Brown’s Friends and Family
Sally Brown:
Charlie Brown’s sister
Snoopy:
Charlie Brown’s dog
Linus van Pelt:
Charlie Brown’s best friend
Lucy van Pelt:
Charlie Brown’s other friend
Charlie Brown’s Growth and Development Good grief, I’m growing fast. I’m 53 inches and 75 pounds.
Charlie Brown is in the school age (middle childhood) stage of growth and development. Normal expected height and weight for Charlie Brown at his age would be a height of 117-142 cm (46-56 inches) and a weight of 19.5-39.5 kg (43-87 pounds). Charlie Brown is also expected to gain 5 cm (2 inches) in height per year (Perry, S. E., Hockenberry, M. J., Lowdermilk, D. L., Wilson, D., 2014). Charlie Brown is 53 inches and 75 pounds which is within the expected growth and development for his age.
Charlie Brown’s Fine and Gross Motor Skills Fine motor skills for Charlie Brown’s age are cursive writing, simple drawings, using household and sewing utensils, and using common tools like hammers, saws, and screwdrivers with parental supervision (Perry et al., 2014). Expected gross motor skills for Charlie Brown at his age are being able to dress self completely, and different kinds of play like hopscotch, jump rope, riding bicycles, and playing sports (Sommer et al., 2013). Charlie Brown has good fine motor skills for his age, he writes in cursive and uses tools. He also has appropriate gross motor skills for his age, he dresses himself and plays sports and other activities.
Piaget Cognitive Development An 8-year-old should normally be in the Piaget’s concrete operations stage of cognitive development. The major characteristics of this stage are the ability to see things from another’s point of view, classification skills by more than one quality, mastering the concept of conservation starting with mass then weight and volume, awareness of the relationship between events in time and places in space, and the ability to read (Perry et al., 2014). Charlie Brown displays achievement of his age-specific cognitive expectations. He understands his classmate’s perspectives, he solves problems at school related to conservation such as liquids, numbers, mass and lengths, he takes himself to school on time, and likes reading comics and classics.
Erikson Psychosocial Development The Erikson psychosocial developmental stage for a school aged child is industry vs. inferiority. Industry is promoted through a child’s development of new skills and knowledge. Inability to accomplish certain tasks can create a feeling of inferiority in the child. Children should also learn that not everyone will master every skill (Sommer et al., 2013). Charlie Brown has struggles with overcoming inferiority because his classmates criticize him when he can’t do a task. He has been unsuccessful in kicking the football from Lucy and lost many kites in a tree. However, Charlie Brown seems to overall have a sense of industry and never lets his failures stop him from trying again. He understands that his inability to accomplish certain tasks does not make him inferior. He also has some great accomplishments a A on a book report and competing in the national spelling bee.
Kohlberg Moral Development According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development for Charlie Brown’s specific age it is expected that he should be able to understand different points of view instead of just if something is right or wrong. He should also be able to judge the intentions of an act rather than just its consequences and understand the concept of treating others as they like to be treated (Sommer et al., 2013). Charlie Brown has an appropriate level of moral development for his age. He understands what it means to treat others how he would like to be treated. He understands when he is disciplined by his teachers or parents what their intentions are and he looks at situations from multiple perspectives.
Nutrition A school aged child should eat adult portions of food that is well balanced. Parents and children should be taught what are healthy meals and snacks. The child should be encouraged to do physical activity, avoid frequent fast food, and not to skip meals (Sommer et al., 2013). Charlie Brown maintains an active lifestyle through sports. He needs more of a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables. His diet includes mostly carbohydrates such as popcorn, cereal pretzel sticks, pizza , peanut butter sandwiches, and jelly beans. His weight of 75 pounds and height of 53 inches are appropriate for his age and are both just under the 95 percentiles on the CDC growth chart (Perry et al., 2014).
Orem Self-Care Requisites Charlie Brown is a very respectful child. He always says sir or mam to adults, and listens to his teacher and parents. His friend Lucy though is not always respectful to him and belittles him. Charlie Brown’s family life is good. There is no role confusion or conflict in the family. Charlie Brown has a lot of friends, but he worries sometimes if his friends really like him. He looks to his best friend Linus for advice and he gives him healthy suggestions. Charlie Brown works hard on his school work. He receives good grades in his school, and works well with others on group assignments. The expectations of school do not stress him out.
Nutritional Anticipatory Guidance A concern for Charlie Brown is his unhealthy eating behaviors and food choices. Charlie Brown needs to increase the variety of foods he eats to avoid obesity and get the vitamins and nutrients he needs to grow. To learn about the kind of food choices he should be making there are games for him to play on the choosemyplate.gov website that teaches kids like him what the recommended amount of fruits, vegetables, protein, grains, dairy he needs each day. Charlie Brown’s Mom and Dad can also go to the same website for information on how to eat healthy as a family on a budget and for a sample 2week menu (Holt, K., Wooldridge, N.H., Story, M., Sofka, D., 2011).
Physical Development Anticipatory Guidance It is anticipated that Charlie Brown between the ages of 10 to 12 will reach puberty and experience changes in physical characteristics and have rapid growth. Until that time he will gain weight more than he will increase in height. To maintain a normal weight according to the CDC growth chart Charlie Brown needs to have a healthy diet with physical activity for at least 60 minutes per day of aerobic, muscle strengthening and bone strengthening exercise (Holt, K., Wooldridge, N.H., Story, M., Sofka, D., 2011).
Social Anticipatory Guidance Charlie Brown has a problem with being bullied. He is repeatedly teased by Lucy. It may seems harmless because they are friends, but it is a serious problem that puts him at risk for depression, suicide, and psychoses. Charlie Brown needs to understand that bullying behavior is unacceptable and that he should tell his parents and his teacher if he is being bullied. The parents should also take steps to talk to the school principle or teacher to stop the bullying behavior (Perry et al., 2014).
Safety Anticipatory Guidance Charlie Brown likes to play sports like football, baseball and hockey. To prevent injuries Charlie Brown should be taught the importance of wearing along with the proper use of sports equipment such as safety helmets, protective eye and mouth shields, and protective padding. Parents and adults should also supervise any sports activities and ensure that the environment for playing is safe like making sure the ice is thick enough to ice skate on the lake (Perry et al., 2014).
QSEN Competency of Safety It is expected at Charlie Brown's age for him to engage in more risk taking behaviors. Parents need to be provided a list of safety education for their kids and be taught to set boundaries for their children’s play to fulfill the QSEN Competency of Safety in minimizing risk to the patient (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses, 2014).
References Charlie Brown and all Peanuts Characters and Illustrations Created By Charles M. Schulz. All Rights Reserved Holt, K., Wooldridge, N.H., Story, M., Sofka, D. (2011). Bright futures nutrition. (3rd ed.). Elk Grove Village, IL. American Academy of Pediatrics. Perry, S. E., Hockenberry, M. J., Lowdermilk, D. L., Wilson, D. (2014). Maternal child nursing care. (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO. Mosby. Quality and Safety Education for Nurses. (2014). QSEN Competencies. Retrieved from http://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensureksas/#safety Sommer, S., Johnson, J., Roberts, K., Redding, S. R., Churchill, L., Elkins, C.B., Roland, P. (2013). RN nursing care of children (9th ed.). Leawood, KS. ATI Nursing Education.